This morning, I got my first payment from something called EarnApp (that is an affiliate link -- if you join through it, I get some kind of commission). $10 from PayPal, for about a month's minimal work, with that work being done by my Internet connection, not by me.
EarnApp uses your Internet bandwidth. So far as I can tell, it does so in very small amounts, but if you have a monthly bandwidth cap you might want to proceed with caution. Likewise if you're sensitive about the possible privacy of what's running through that particular set of pipes.
What does it use your bandwidth for? As best I can tell, from both its own FAQs and reviews around the web, it sells advertisers the ability to see how well or badly their ad targeting works in different local areas.
So if Acme wants to know what ad copy coyotes in the Miami, Florida area are seeing for its rocket and explosive offerings, EarnApp routes routes relevant search engine queries, etc. through my ISP connection so that it gets local snapshots of what ad copy people in that area are seeing.
You install the app, then you forget about it, unless you want to check the EarnApp dashboard to see what your balance is. You can redeem via PayPal, Wise, or Amazon gift card; I chose PayPal because the minimum was $10 and I wanted to verify that it worked. Now that I have, I'll probably set it up for "auto-redeem" as Amazon gift credit, which is a $50 minimum.
Like I said, I've noticed no particular impact on my own bandwidth usage. Nor have I noticed the app causing any problems with my computers (I've got it installed on two, both of them Linux rigs, but there are app versions for other operating systems). Obviously the app does use a little hard drive space and some CPU cycles. My impression is that it only uses the latter when your computer is idle anyway.
I only installed it on two machines because I wanted to see if it impacted those machines's performance; unless you're running more than one ISP connection from more than one geographical area, multiple installations don't make a lot of sense earnings-wise. It's not the machine that's really being used so much as the bandwidth and physical location the IP address represents, which will likely be the same across your household's computers. The IP location part is why I say Miami, rather than Gainesville, above -- my Starlink IP address returns a Miami location.
Like I said, I made $10 in about a month, and various web reviews indicate that the earnings range tends to be $5 to $15 per month. If you want that little chunk of change in perpetuity for about five minutes of work one time, this might be for you. You're welcome.
